Election, Car Wreck, and California Races

As readers of my previous blogs know I love Fall! It is my favorite time of year because in my opinion it is the prettiest time of year and despite the falling, dying leaves, to me it is a season of new beginnings. I'm sure that has a lot to do with a lifetime spent starting back to school and cross country season beginning. It is also the time of year that I most enjoy racing.

My love of Fall has been somewhat tempered by the election this year. I'm not going to get into a big political discussion here because it is not the place to do so. I will say however that since the election results I have had a feeling of low-grade depression. There is so much ugliness and nastiness that took place during the campaigning and has not slowed since the election. If anything much of the rhetoric is worse now than before. It is frustrating to see how much hate and garbage is being spewed in the media and on social media and how much is being overlooked. Brief though they were, those are my comments on the Presidential Election of 2016. I am not encouraged!

My Fall racing started in Pleasanton at the Run 4 Life 5K followed by the Modesto at the Peace Officer's Memorial 5K between the time I got home from my road trip and the time I left for Oregon. Both races were slow but I am starting to feel a little like a runner again. A slow runner but a runner none the less as opposed to someone "wogging" races while trying to stay involved.

While I was in Oregon I did a lot of walking including time on Pre's Trail but I didn't run once while I was there so when I got back to California I got right back to running because I knew that I had races on the calendar. The first was one that I have done several times since moving to Patterson; the Move Your Bones 5K in Turlock. It was raining and windy and cool the whole time. The race was good the worst part was waiting around after for the raffle to finish and the results announced. I was 3rd in the 60-69 age group.

Veterans Day

I was sick with a chest cold for about a week after the race and then got back to running. I wanted to find races for Veteran's Day Weekend and got online. There wasn't anything reasonably close for Friday but I found a 5K in Livermore on Saturday, The Race to the Flagpole and another 5K Sunday in San Jose, Veteran's Day 5K. I decided to stay over in the Bay Area between the races. The races went well and I enjoyed the patriotic atmosphere of both. The only bad part of the weekend was that when I left my hotel to go get something to eat I got into a car accident that did about $5000 damage to my car. That happened on the 12th. On the 11th I had owned the car for 1 year. Not a very nice anniversary gift. Oh well, "It Is What It Is". Still put a damper on what was supposed to be a racing and relaxing weekend.

My car is still in the shop so I'm not doing or going much. I had a rental car for a few days but since I found out that it was going to be over two weeks until I get my car back I turned the rental back in. I'll just borrow a car for a race I plan to do on Thanksgiving Day and to a VA appointment the day before I get the car back. I did take the rental on a road trip when I went to Chico, spent the night and then took my nephew and two friends to the airport in Sacramento so that they could go home for the holiday break. The highlight of the trip was finding a really nice used book store in Chico that I would certainly go to again.